General Discussion

Trump and the oligarchs' money - including Musk's. People have become wealthy in the US only because there is a stable legal system that allows it; in the federal courts, commercial litigation accounts for the majority of civil cases. Corporations and other business entities regularly sue each other for breach of contract, business disparagement, unfair competition, antitrust claims, etc. The libertarian types hate regulation, but the regulations they hate mostly have to do with rules that cut into their profits, like environmental or labor safety rules. But they don't want the courts to go away; the courts maintain a mostly level playing field, at least among businesses. Back in 1952, SCOTUS told Harry Truman that the government couldn't take over the steel industry to prevent a strike even thought the Korean War was going on and a strike could cripple arms production. But that was then. Would this SCOTUS tell Truman that he couldn't seize Musk's businesses in the event of a "national emergency" (and then find a way to skim much of it for himself)?

Russian oligarchs remain wealthy (and in some cases, alive) only because Putin allows it and they stay away from windows. https://www.euronews.com/2022/09/22/accidental-defenestration-and-murder-suicides-too-common-among-russian-oligarchs-and-putin Can Musk and the other captains of industry assume Trump will leave them alone and let them be filthy rich without interference? Seems to me that without the courts we're heading for a Mafia-like system where corporations and oligarchs will have to expect to pay protection money to stay in business. "Nice little SpaceX ya got there, Elon. Be a shame if something happened to it."